A haptic effect for mobile wireless devices or handsets, or non-wireless devices such as portable gaming machines and gaming console controllers, is typically the generation of different types of vibrations at the handset to provide vibrotactile feedback to the user. Mobile handsets that may include haptic effects, such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), come in different shapes and sizes, utilize different actuators to generate vibrations, and therefore by nature are mechanically different. As a result, when designing a handset with a haptic effect, the vibrations as sensed by a user will vary greatly depending on this difference. To provide a haptic effect that is similar across this difference, or even effective to the user, each mobile handset design must be modified based on these unique characteristics. Even with design changes, the result may be that the different handsets will generate a wide range of vibrotactile sensations to the user.
For example, one haptic effect might be the generation of a series of three distinct pulses. With one type of handset having a motor with certain braking characteristics, the user will clearly feel the three pulses. However, the same haptic effect implemented on a handset having a motor with different braking characteristics may appear to the user as more muddled, to the point where the user cannot determine the number of distinct pulses.
It is desirable for a haptic effect to be consistent across many different handsets, so that a user will not have to adjust to a different feel of the vibrations, and so that the haptic effect will convey the same information (e.g., three pulses) to the user on different handsets. Therefore, there is a need for a method and system for generating haptic effects that are consistent across different mobile handsets.